חופש

Chofesh means vacation or freedom and that's exactly what I'm doing from June 11th to June 23rd! Just playing around in Israel. Originally, I was supposed to go to Eilat with Naomi this week but due to the lack of personal credit cards and Naomi's unfinished end-of-semester work, we couldn't go. So while she worked on her papers in Jerusalem, I've been venturing out to Tel Aviv's beaches. The weather and the water are just beautiful. I managed to stay in for 40 minutes on Thursday- it was that nice. Only on Wednesday, I stayed in Jeruusalem for the purpose of picking up my first package from home and my cellphone- I later went out to the Malka Mall (where I got smacked hard by a baby's head on my right eye- almost got a black eye if I didn't run over to the food court for some ice!)

Mom told me that when I was little, I used to get so tan that I was called her "brown baby." Now I understand what she meant by that! It's unbelievable. I've never seen myself like this in my recent memory. My faical skin isn't golden tan anymore. The change is so drastic that i don't know how to feel aobut it.

Nevertheless, I'm still going to the beach this week because in America, I have zip access to those kind of places. And it's really fun being able to catch up with my summer reading- I just finished I, Mona Lisa by Jeanne Kalogridis- it's about Renassiance Florence in 1490's. Now I'm starting on Jane Austen's Emma (only because I' ve been encouraged to try Austen again after I expressed my dislike for Pride and Prejudice).

I saw Tobi and Nate for dinner last Tuesday- Tobi made salmon cakes! Yum! We had some very in-depth discussion that put a new perspective on applying what I've seen in Israel to certain American Jews. I love them, especially Nate. They're definitely my 'Israeli grandparents" (though they are Americans).

Then I saw Phyllis, a friend of Zev's, for brunch on Friday before I dashed off to Tel Aviv. She's such a wonderful, sweet woman. She bought me a little piece of cake for Shabbat treat. Funny thing is that I didn't realize how North American she was until I dined with her in the restaurant. Just some little things just didn't seem to make her an Israeli.

My time in Tel Aviv on Friday was kind of short compared to other days but it was very worthwhile. I was happy to see Hilary again. She looked like she was still getting over the cultural shock but seemed to be settling in well. She complained of the heat and loved the water. I smiled and coaxed her to soak in as much water as she could because she wasn't used to the climate yet having only arrived just recently and I've been here for 5 months and used to the weather. A bunch of high schoolers hit on us- mostly Hilary (because we're so cute). Eventually they left us alone when the waves got a bit strong for us to talk as a group. After we laid out in the sun, we got hit on again by two guys our age from Jerusalem. They were very hot- I couldn't keep my eyes off one of them- he had the most amazing eyes I had ever seen. Unfortunately, they were smokers so Hilary and I kept our conversations pretty casual even though they invited us to go clubbing with them.

I think Hilary was more than happy to leave the beach- leaving the hot sun and the Israelis when it was time for me to catch the last bus back to Jerusalem. Oh, I tell you, catching the last bus back to Jerusalem is a total madhouse- you can feel the crowd swaying and pushing towards the doors of the bus. All I kept thinking was that i had a round trip ticket and ought to be on the bus this instant!

For Shabbat, I visited Morris and Dalia's in Malcha. Dalia's cooking totally reminded me of Mom's- very homemade with a natural touch of gourmet. She made schintzel fish with sweet and white roasted potatoes, some beans, and some veggies from chicken broth. I enjoyed their company very much. (See the post "Fun with the Israelis!!!" under April for more info about them) For some reason, I felt quite emotional when I talked to them about my feelings and experiences in Israel... the same kind of feelings that I had when I first saw Israel back in January. How much I loved Israel and how much Israel brings joy and happiness to me. And to be sitting and eating and conversing with the Israelis in the same room was just a bit much but it's really the best experience anyone can ask for when living in a foreign country (though Israel s not a foreign country to me!).

To a new week. L'shavua chedeshah